Standard: Dimir Reanimator - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Murders at Karlov Manor continues to impact Standard as players find new interactions with its cards. Over the past week, an archetype has become a trend in Magic Arena ranked play as a way to cheat on mana costs and hold off pressure from Aggro decks with Atraxa, Grand Unifier - Dimir Reanimator.

Taking advantage of Reenact the Crime, this new Reanimator variant manages to run some of the best cards available in the format for an interactive game plan while being capable of dominating the match as early as the fourth turn.

In today's article, we delve deeper into this new trend in the format and evaluate whether it is capable of becoming one of the main competitors in the Metagame!

Dimir Reanimator is the new variant of archetypes that seek to use The Cruelty of Gix to cheat the mana cost of Atraxa, Grand Unifier to generate rivers of card advantage, in addition to having an almost unbeatable threat in play.

Despite having a core in most lists, Reenact the Crime gave enough reasons to test a new version without red, with a greater focus on recurring looting and discard effects alongside of the new spell to bring your main bombs to the battlefield on the fourth turn.

The cost of using it, however, comes with some heavy concessions: Reenact the Crime only copies cards that were put into the graveyard the turn it is cast, reducing the potential of spells like Big Score while benefiting from recurring effects, such as those found in Rona, Herald of Invasion or Kaito Shizuki.

This makes it a little more “all-in” than the other variants, but the individual quality of spells like Liliana of the Veil and Virtue of Persistence allow the archetype to stand firm under pressure, and any creature reanimated by it will be enough to take over the game.

This is the decklist I have ran in Magic Arena ranked matches.

If you already know this strategy, you may have noticed two notable differences in my list compared to the standard of this deck: the exchange of Conspiracy Unraveler for Titan of Industry and the inclusion of four copies of Push // Pull - and both are loosely connected

The more I tried to play with Conspiracy Unraveler, the more evident it became that it was excellent when we had spells in hand to cast, creating gigantic snowballs with Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Breach the Multiverse - the problem is that, in both cases, we are considering the deck's inability to do what it sets out to do: discard the big spells to reuse them.

Outside this context, Conspiracy Unraveler is just a flying creature with no immediate impact and no way to protect itself, and given the inclusion of Liliana of the Veil and no way to add cards to one's hand, the new Sphinx seemed less relevant with each game.

Enter Titan of Industry, the main reanimate target before Atraxa, Grand Unifier, who offers an excellent battlefield body and very flexible modal abilities. In the end, its impact was more significant and more important than the inclusion of an effect that appeared to be “win more” to tDimir Reanimator.

And so other cards on the list were replaced by Push // Pull. Like Virtue of Persistence, the new spell is a conditional removal coupled with a reanimation effect, but unlike other cards in this category, it revives two creatures, they gain haste and must be sacrificed at the end of the turn - or In other words, it is excellent for taking advantage of ETB effects while maintaining more targets for other spells.

It's not the best removal or the best reanimation effect, but it offers enough flexibility to get a lot of value out of the creatures in your graveyard.

Maindeck

The creatures we want to reanimate.

Atraxa, Grand Unifier has become the best possible target for mana cost cheating in the game's recent history, and several archetypes across all formats have been established for this purpose. Its ability to fill its controller's hand with four or more cards at once and still have a body capable of winning games on its own and taking pressure off any more aggressive deck makes it the most powerful threat in Standard.

Titan of Industry may not have the same impact as Atraxa, but it offers a lot of flexibility by protecting itself or another creature, increasing the pressure on the board, gaining life, and even destroying artifacts and enchantments.

Our enablers.

Rona, Herald of Invasion takes advantage of how all of our enablers are legendary permanents, allowing to draw two or more cards in a cycle of turns with her ability. Additionally, it also functions as an alternate win condition in longer games.

Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator complements Rona as a two-mana looter, but stands out from other options by allowing you to reuse spells from the graveyard, essential in post-sideboard games where we need another copy of a sweeper or another removal.

Kaito Shizuki can put some threats in play, in addition to granting card advantage or looting every turn. Most plays with Reenact the Crime involve casting Kaito or Liliana on the previous turn.

Liliana of the Veil is excellent for attrition games while still working with the core purpose of the deck. It is not an ideal option against Aggro, but among the available enablers, it is the most solid to offer us a more efficient late-game against Midrange and Control.

The Reanimators.

Reenact the Crime is the reason Dimir Reanimator exists, and its biggest advantages include casting the above creatures, or Breach the Multiverse as early as turn four. However, it requires so many compromises and becomes a bad topdeck more times than we'd like, so reducing the number of them by more copies of The Cruelty of Gix is an option.

The Cruelty of Gix is the classic reanimate effect in Standard today, and offers good flexibility between interacting with the opponent and seeking out a key piece in your deck.

Breach the Multiverse was once considered one of the most powerful spells in the format. Today, due to the rise of Aggro and the reduction of gigantic threats in the Midranges, it has become less relevant. It's extremely useful alongside Reenact the Crime, but seven mana to cast it makes it a poor topdeck in the early turns.

Our interaction.

Virtue of Persistence offers a great breather against Aggro and some Midrange creatures while turning into a late-game bomb with its recurring reanimation, whether by putting Atraxa on the battlefield, or with interactions around Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator and other spells in the graveyard.

Push // Pull is less impactful as removal, but helps deal with creatures unconditionally as long as they have been tapped or have attacked at least once. Its reanimation effect is one of the best ways to turn games on this list, as it offers a clock of up to 14 damage in a single turn, in addition to the ETB effects of our creatures generating tons of value.

Surveil Lands are great for speeding up our game plan and enabling Reenact the Crime after the fourth turn. Using up to eight copies of them is an option, but they come with very heavy concessions in the first few turns.

The rest of the lands are what you'd expect from a Dimir list, with four copies of the main options that come into play untapped, in addition to the Channel Lands, which benefit from the number of legendary creatures in that list.

Sideboard

Cut Down and Go for the Throat offer a good delay in aggressive games and for archetypes like Dimir or Esper Midrange, with restrictions that are a little easier to play around than other options in their categories.

Path of Peril is a meta call to deal with Boros Convoke's main creatures for a low cost and without depending on a specific effect that doesn't work in other games, such as Bant Poison, Mono Red Aggro and Soldiers.

Deadly Cover-Up is a hardcore sweeper whose main targets include archetypes that Path of Peril does not cover. It is a powerful value source, and its additional cost can be used to remove key pieces from your opponent.

Azorius and Bant Control have returned to the Standard Metagame after the release of No More Lies, and having ways to protect our game plan with Duress and Negate is essential to complement the disruptive plan with Liliana of the Veil.

Ertai Resurrected is a modal option in a flex slot. He's on the list due to the need to want a comprehensive card against Midrange and Control that could enter other matchups if necessary, but it is not mandatory on the sideboard.

Boros Convoke

IN

OUT

Dimir Midrange

IN

OUT

Domain Ramp

IN

OUT

Azorius Control

IN

OUT

Mono Red Aggro

IN

OUT

Dimir Reanimator is one of the most interesting strategies in the current Standard, but it requires refinement to make the most of its interactions.

Reenact the Crime requires specific concessions to work, and I don't feel that this or the other versions take advantage of the card as they should, as its biggest differentiator besides its low cost is the possibility of casting Breach the Multiverse, which largely depends on which match we are facing to generate any value.

Conspiracy Unraveler, used en masse in this deck, seems like a “win more” card than a necessity. It doesn't protect itself, it requires other pieces in your hand to generate immediate impact, and the only way it could turn into a snowball is if our deck didn't work as intended.

So, I don't think this will be the time to bring Reanimator back as a viable archetype for major Standard tournaments, but I'll be ready to be proven otherwise in the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading!